CECM Document Server: http://eprints.cecm.sfu.ca

Welcome to the CECM document server front page. We are currently running a generic test version of GNU eprints 2.2.1, which, pending future customizations, will become the permanent repository for academic documents produced by members of the CECM. These documents will primarily comprise preprints of papers submitted to journals, but will also include auxiliary content like animations, Maple worksheets, notes etc. The eventual goal for the document server is to embed such dynamic content in the server pages themselves, as well as having this content available for download. When we have settled on an eventual form for the document server, we plan to link our site in with the existing technical infrastructure of ArXiv, an established preprint archive for mathematics, physics and computing science.

Contact:

Herre Wiersma (email: hwiersma@cecm.sfu.ca)

Quick Start Instructions:

The Eprints interface is fairly intuitive, but if you don't understand how a feature works, your first resort should be the Eprints documentation. The purpose of this section is to guide a new user through registration and the basics of the server.

Getting There: The URL of the CECM Document Server is http://eprints.cecm.sfu.ca.
Visitors: You should immediately be able to start browsing the server, either by searching for keywords and metadata (under 'Search'), or by browsing through the server by year or by subject (under 'Browse'). However, to submit new entries in the server you must create an account.
Creating an Account: Click 'Register' at the top of the page to register for an account. Choose a user name and password, and provide a working email account. Eprints will email a confirmation URL to this account. Check your mail for this confirmation message, and copy and paste the URL into your browser.
Configuring your Account: Before you can upload documents, you must provide some information about yourself to the server. Mandatory fields are indicated with an asterisk.
Submitting Documents: Once you have created and configured your account, you may create new entries in the server by uploading documents.
- In the User Area, click on 'click here to start uploading documents'.
- First you will be asked what type of document (thesis, article, etc.) you wish to submit.
- Next, you must indicate whether the submission is a correction or addendum to an existing submission. This is typically not the case, so click 'Next >' to indicate that you wish to make a new submission.
- The next screen provides bibliographical information related to your submission: author(s), title, abstract, date, etc. Mandatory fields are indicated with an asterisk.
- The content of your submission consists of a set of files to be uploaded to the server. You must upload at least one HTML, PDF, PostScript or text file.
- The next part of the upload process is a loop wherein files are successively added to or removed from your entry until all the desired files are lodged on the server. Note that you may set security settings on the individual files, granting or denying access to various groups.
- Files may be uploaded from your local hard drive, from a URL, or en masse in a gzipped tarball.
- At each stage, currently submitted files are listed, and may be reviewed or removed.
- Click 'Finished' when you are done uploading. The next screen asks for confirmation: click 'Next >' to continue.
- Eprints now summarizes the information provided, giving a preview of how the submission will look in the server. You may delay submitting your document(s) until a later date, or submit them immediately.
After Documents are Submitted: Your new submission will not appear in the server, but will instead be lodged in a submission buffer. An Eprints editor or administrator will then review the submission and either accept it or send it back to the submitter for revision.

Timeline:

June 2003: Testing of server by CoLab members.
June 2003: Initial configuration, including MSC categorization.
May 2003: Test server installed at http://eprints.cecm.sfu.ca.

Future Goals:

Customize appearance and functionality of server.
Register with OAI and Eprints.
Move existing CECM preprints server to Document Server.
Harmonize server with ArXiv.

Technical Objectives:

Migrate to Apache 2 and Modperl 2.
Automate generation of browse views.